Princess, Without Cover (15 page)

“That’s right, that’s good.  Drink just a little more.” 

Her voice was soft and encouraging as he drank the life-sustaining liquid.  The entire time, Harrison Daniels stared at them both in disgust. 

“I’ll never understand women.”

His lip was curled and she could tell that he didn’t
want
to understand women.  She suddenly understood from his tone why he had been so cold to her from the very beginning. 

He disliked women.  He felt as though he was above trying to think like one.  She knew it as surely as she was breathing, but couldn’t imagine what had happened to him to make him feel in such a way. 

“You don’t like women.  Why?” she questioned, staring up at him.

He stared at her coldly. 

“It’s cute that you think you are in a position to question me.”

He turned his back on her for a moment, a brief second- the space of one breath.  Then he turned back to her. 

“Do you want to live?”  His smile glittered in the light.

“Of course.  But I know you aren’t going to allow that.  So why don’t you just go ahead and kill me now?  Why stretch it out?  Do you need to make me suffer? You need to break me so that I will beg while you rape me?”

“Partly.  But I need you to do something for me.  And then I might let you live.  You’re going to be a movie star.  You’ll like that, won’t you?”  His tone was mocking.

“What kind of movie star?”

“Any kind I want you to be.  But for now, I’m going to give you a script and you’re going to memorize it.  Then you are going to perform for me on camera- perfectly. Or he dies.”  He jerked his head toward Danny again.  “But if you are good, I’ll let him live.”

Sydney eyed him carefully. She knew that there was no way in hell that he was going to let either of them live, not when they could both identify him.  She chose her next words carefully.

“I promise to do what you ask if you will give Danny food and water.  Will you do that?” She watched his reaction, trying to gauge his intent from his expression.

“That’s a small enough price to pay.  But what about yourself?  Don’t you want to eat?”

“Of course I do,” she whispered, hating herself that she would admit it to him. 

But she was so, so hungry.  Her stomach felt as though it had collapsed upon itself.  It had been overshadowed completely by her desperate thirst, but now that she could think a little more clearly, her hunger pangs were almost overwhelming. 

He smiled at her again, the perfectly polite smile of a host, before he ducked out the door, closing it behind him.  He was only gone for a minute before he returned with a large box.  He set it down in front of her. 

“This is full of peanut butter sandwiches and chips.  There are also bottles of water.  Be careful, because it has to last until I come back next time.  Now, I’m going to take you to the bathroom and you are going to clean yourself up.  And then we’re going to make a movie.”

Fear stilled her heart.  She could only think of one kind of movie that a man like him would want to make with a woman.  And since she had already ascertained that this particular man hated women, she couldn’t even imagine what kind of horrible, degrading things he would make her do in his movie. 

She took a deep, stilling breath before she nodded.  The detective took a step toward the door, then turned to her again, his voice icy.

“One more thing.  Don’t try to run from me or I will kill the boy.  Don’t doubt it,” he threatened. 

She didn’t.  She could tell from the steely expression on his face that he wouldn’t hesitate a millisecond before killing Danny.  She turned to the frightened little boy. 

“Don’t be afraid, Danny.  I’m going to go with this man to help him with something.  While I’m gone, I want you to eat a sandwich and drink a bottle of water. Okay?” 

Danny nodded but his expression was worried. Sydney turned and walked with detective Daniels out the door, waiting while he paused to lock it.  She took note that it was padlocked into a hinge on the door.  She wondered if she would be able to force it open.  She silently vowed to try if he left them here alive.

The detective escorted her to a dingy bathroom which was a hundred times dirtier than Stephen’s had ever been.  Her thoughts wavered briefly at the thought of Stephen. She knew he was probably beside himself right now.  She silently said a prayer for his protection and then turned on the water in the sink, as Detective Daniels stood silently at her side.  As the water ran into the grimy sink, he handed her a wash cloth and a hair brush.

“Clean up,” he demanded. 

She looked into the cloudy mirror and studied her reflection.  She had sunken circles under her eyes which were probably a combined result of the dehydration and lack of sleep.  Her skin looked incredibly pale from being closed in the dark room.  She was only a shadow of herself. 

She wiped her face with the rag and then combed her hair.  She tried not to notice that there was dried blood on the wall beside her. When she was finished, she turned to the detective. 

“I don’t suppose I can have a toothbrush?” 

He shook his head impatiently.  “No one is going to notice your teeth.”

He grabbed her elbow and dragged her from the bathroom into another bedroom where there was a single chair set up in front of a camera. She was instantly confused.  She expected to see a bed in front of the camera.  Not this. 

She turned to him in surprise.   “What are you going to have me do?”

He thrust a paper into her hands.  Her eyes skimmed over it and with every word she read, her heart sped up a little bit more until it felt as though it would leap from her throat.  Her fingers shook as she held the paper and finally she looked back up at him.

“Why do you want me to expose my dad? You suggested this awhile back, too—that I leak this to the press.  Why?”

“It’s not your father who is important in this equation,” he ground out through gritted teeth. He shoved her harshly into the chair and began adjusting the camera. “And if you had listened to me then, you wouldn’t be here now.” 

Sydney tried not to think about that. 

“Okay, fine.  Why do you want to expose
your
father?” 

She thought she had seen every kind of backstabbing in her previous life, but this was a new kind of betrayal.  This betrayal stemmed from a deep-seeded hatred.

“He is
not
my father.” 

Detective Daniels practically spit the words at her and she cringed from the bitterness they contained.  

“Now, you are going to look into the camera and say what was on the script.  Word for word.  This is your only chance of getting out of here alive, so be convincing.”

Sydney swallowed hard as the light on the camera turned red.  It wasn’t so much that she was adversely against reading the script, but she was afraid of what would happen to her after she read it.  Once it was finished, he would have no more use for her.  But she had no choice, so she leveled her gaze at the blinking red light and began to speak in a strong voice. 

“Hello. My name is Sydney Ross, daughter of Illinois senator Randall Ross.  I am sending you this videotape as a public service announcement of my own because I need you to know something about the official that you continue to elect to office.  It is important that you know this information before the upcoming elections. 

“My father, whose slogan has always been Family Values First, has been lying to you and to the entire world.   He has been hiding his sexual orientation as a homosexual for years… and his partner is none other than Ohio senator Paul Hayes.”

CHAPTER NINE

Stephen anxiously paced through the house, his nerves frayed and willing his phone to ring. Ever since Sydney was taken, he had spoken with the detective several times daily.  In fact, he had spoken with him so much that he now called him Harrison.

His first impression of the detective couldn’t have been more off base.  Throughout the entire hellish last week, while he waited to find out anything about Sydney’s whereabouts, Harrison had been nothing but gracious and patient. 

Stephen had to admit that he had practically hounded the poor guy, begging for any new tidbit or a lead of some sort.  But Harrison had kindly answered the phone every time, attempting to calm Stephen’s anxiety with the experience that he had developed over the years in similar situations. 

Kidnappings, that is.  But even Harrison had to admit that this situation was unique due to the important players involved.  Which was why he had instituted the gag order for everyone involved.  It was not going to be leaked to the press for any reason. 

Something about that seemed wrong to Stephen.  He wanted the whole world to know so that the whole world could be looking for her.  But on the same token, he knew that if they tipped their hand to Randall Ross, the whole game could be over. 

He seethed just thinking about Senator Ross.   In fact, when one of the senator’s campaign commercials had aired earlier that morning, he had thrown his glass at the television.  Family Values First. What bullshit!  If only he had listened to Sydney, really listened, when she tried to tell him.

A soft knock at the front door startled him from his reverie and he quickly strode across the room to answer it.  Detective Delores Wills stood in front of him, her face tired. 

“Stephen?  How are you doing?”

Her tone indicated that she was sincere.  He imagined how he must look to her… he hadn’t showered in a couple of days, his eyes must be blood shot from lack of sleep and he was jittery from too much caffeine.  He probably looked like a strung-out druggie. 

“Oh, not that great, I guess.  I mean, if you want the honest answer.”  He swung the door wide and she entered, standing next to him rather than walking any further inside. 

“I do.  Stephen, you should get some sleep.  If anything comes up, we’ll call you.  First thing.  You have my word.”  Her tone was almost warm.

“I wish I could sleep, detective.  I haven’t been able to.  Every time I close my eyes, I see her face and it reminds me that she isn’t here.  Do you think she’s still alive?” 

He swallowed hard as he stared at Detective Wills forcefully.  He really needed her honest opinion right now. 

She studied him for a moment before answering.  “I don’t know. We haven’t gotten a ransom demand yet, which seems to further point towards Sydney’s father.  Detective Daniels is working on attaining a court order from a judge to search the Senator’s home.”

“He wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep Sydney in his house!” Stephen was exasperated.  Were the police really so dumb?

“No, he probably wouldn’t.  But there could be clues in his house that might implicate him further.” 

Stephen relaxed again. He should have known that- at the very least from all of the crime scene television shows that he watched.   His sleepless state was really messing with his cognition.

“I’m sorry, detective.  I’m being rude.  You came here for something.  Can I help you?”

“Actually, I was just stopping by to check on you and to see if you had heard anything.  Anything at all.”  She looked at him.  “Because if the perpetrator contacts you, you need to let us know even if he says not to.” 

“I haven’t heard a thing, detective.” 

His shoulders slumped as he realized that she really didn’t have any news for him. He had been hopeful when he opened the door.       “But you have my word that if I hear
anything
, you will know about it.”  Detective Wills nodded before she stepped back out the door, turning in the doorframe. 

“Stephen, really… get some sleep.  You look terrible.  There’s nothing you can do for her in this capacity.  We’ll call you the minute we know anything.  And here—take my card.  It has my cell number on it in case you can’t get a hold of Detective Daniels for some reason.  Just in case you hear something.” 

She pressed her card into his hand and turned again, walking briskly down the sidewalk to her car, not looking back. 

Stephen closed the door and leaned his head against it.  She was probably right.  He should get some sleep.  He couldn’t even think straight anymore.  He felt like he was losing his mind.  He slumped dejectedly into the bedroom, where he dropped onto the bed fully clothed. He laid his cell phone on the pillow beside him and closed his eyes.

*  * *

It had been several days since Sydney had made the tape for Detective Daniels.  After the taping was over, he had surprised her by yanking her back to the other bedroom and throwing her inside with Danny.  She had expected that he would kill her, but he didn’t. 

They had heard him rustling around in the house, then they heard the tires crunching on gravel again as he left.  Then they had stared at each other.  He had really left them there alive. 

It was a surprising turn of events. 

Sydney had wasted no time trying to break the door down.  She knew that if she could just kick hard enough, the padlocked hinge on the other side would break loose.  But so far, it hadn’t.  And she had been trying hard and often.  Her poor feet had deep bruises to prove it.

They were down to their last peanut butter sandwich, although they still had several bottles of water left.  The stench of ammonia was almost unbearable in the room, like an overfilled stable or an overflowing sewer pipe.  Sydney knew that if they ever got out of there alive, the smell would leave an indelible impression in her nose.  She would never get it out. 

She edged up to the wall and knocked on it again, in an attempt to communicate with the other girl.  So far, her attempts had been futile.  The girl didn’t want to talk.  Today, however, she surprised them.

“What do you want?” Her voice was impatient, as though she had other things she needed to be doing.

“I want to know about you.  Why are you here?” Sydney’s voice was firm and slightly demanding.  She couldn’t imagine why the girl didn’t want to communicate. 

“Does it matter?  It doesn’t change anything.”

The girl’s voice was pitifully hopeless and desolate.  Sydney’s stomach sunk a notch lower just listening to it. Would that be her in a few months… a hollow shell of a person?